I am in yet another Amazing Race pool at work. The way we worked this one was we drew numbers from a hat and then got to pick a team in the order of numbers so each team was only picked once. I drew a 4, so 3 teams were already gone when it was my turn to pick. But, I still got my second favorite team, so it's all good. I have Lynn and Alex (the gay guys). I think they will do pretty well since they seem to be one of the stronger teams. If I win this pool, it will be the third Amazing Race pool in a row that i have won!
I am also in a Survivor Pool as well. We got to draw two names (I drew Ian and Wanda) and then we got to make 3 picks as well (I picked Katie, Bobby-Jon, and Gregg). We made these draws before the first episode and the picks before the second episode. I have yet to wina survivor pool, so maybe I'm due this time! Unlike with the Amazing Race pool, the survivor pool has more than one person on each survivor contestant. So, even if one of my contestants win, doesn't mean I am guaranteed the money. I would have to fight for it "Survivor style" (whatever that means, eating worms, maybe? or trivia? who knows) with the other people in my office that have the same pick. I find it makes the shows a lot more fun to watch when you have certain people you are cheering for.
Thanks for all your comments on my soon-to-be-mine house! I am soooo excited! It makes it really concentrate on studying (I am writing the PPE on April 23rd). After I write the exam, I will have more time to devote to researching mortgages, gathering decorating ideas, etc. I am trying to remain focused on studying, but it is so hard! I wish I could just put the house stuff out of my mind for the next month, but that's impossible! I have already spent about 22 hours studying, so I am well on my way. I think it will be fine; I will just be so relieved when April 23rd is over!!! Then I can really concentrate on my house! It will also be really exciting when I can go into the house to look around. I'm planning on doing that in the last week of April.
Baby Age Ticker
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Wow, I must be growing up!
I have some incredibly exciting news! Now, before you all get carried away, it has nothing to do with a new man in my life (I am still single)...it is way better than a new man! I am going to buy my first house!! So, for those of you who are not interested in reading all about my house, you might as well stop reading now because that's all this post is going to be about.
I have been thinking about getting my own place for a few months now. I went into the bank to meet with a mortgage specialist just to get a ballpark idea of how much I could afford to spend on a house. I was a little disappointed with the amount, but I guess I have to realize that I only have one income, so I can't expect to get a killer house. So, over the last few months, every saturday when the paper comes, I would take out the real estate section and read it. And I was getting a little more discouraged because it seemed like all the houses that were within my price range were either tiny little bungalos or townhomes. I really wanted something a little bigger so that I could build an apartment in a portion of it so I could rent out the apartment to make money to help pay the mortgage. And I really wasn't finding that anywhere.
Then, on Sunday, my mom said "Why don't you buy our rental property?". What an amazing idea! I would love to live there, I just never thought my parents would want to sell it!
My parents own a house just around the corner from where we are now and have rented it out for about 14 years now. My family lived in the rental house from about 1982 until 1991, so I spent a lot of my childhood there. The truth is that my parents could really use the chunk of change from the sale of the house to get out of debt. Selling the house and getting out of debt would be a real answer to prayer for them. Owning my own house is a dream come true for me. I will get to buy this gorgeous house with 4 bedrooms, it's two floors (plus basement and attic), has a huge backyard, detached garage, and it backs right onto the Rotary-Greenway trail, which is where I do a lot of running and walking Koby. And, the house has a walk-out basement, so the plan is to convert the basement into an apartment to rent out! My dad is a master carpenter, so he's going to do all the renovations for me! Yay! The house is getting a little run-down since it has been a student rental for so long, but I know how nice it can get, because it was beautiful when I lived there, it just needs a little work here and there.
Oh wait, it gets better, my parents have offered to let my buy it for $25,000 less than the appraised price!!!! Otherwise, I would never be able to afford such a large house, but they offered it to me for a good deal! My Oma gave my mom a lot of money towards her first home, so I guess my parents want to do the same with me! I'm so excited I can barely sleep at night! My mind is running wild with all the possibilities!
Okay, there is one down side. There are new tenants moving in as of May 1st (they just signed the lease a couple weeks ago). So, I can't move into the house until May 1, 2006 even though the closing date of the sale will be August 1, 2005. So, I will own the house for 9 months before I can move in. Bummer, eh? But, that just means I will get the $1200 a month from the rental income to pay the mortgage and I can save the rest for the renovations and furniture and such. Legally, I can kick the tenants out since the house will be mine and I will need it for personal use, but they are friends of my brother's and I don't want to leave them without a place to live. And an extra $1200 a month will go a long way. That should cover the mortgage payments, property taxes, home insurance, other house expenses, etc. with a few hundred left to save. I think having some time before I move in may be a good thing because then I can really plan what I want to do in terms of painting, decorating, furniture, fixing things up, etc. It will just be soooo hard to wait! I've drove by the place tonight to look at it (even though of course I know that house inside and out because I lived there for 9 years). And something inside me said "that's gonna be your new home".
Another plus side is, if (or shall I way WHEN) I get married and have a family, this house has plenty of room. 4 bedrooms on the upper floor and 1 in the basement (but that will be part of the apartment). One of the bedrooms upstairs is quite small, but the other three are a good size. I will be going down there sometime in the next few weeks (once the current tenants move out and before the new ones move in) to take some measurements, notes, and pictures.
So, in the next few weeks my job is to do some shopping around for mortgages. I want to get the best rate possible because even a percent difference in the interest rate will save you thousands. It's all about negotiations!
I really hope I will be approved for the mortgage. The only problem I see is coming up with a down payment since all my money in the last year has gone to student loans (all paid off as of yesterday - yay!) and my car (I am buying out the lease May 1st). I may have to ask Oma if she can loan me a few grand for now. Mortgages really are a lot easier now than they used to be. You used to need to have 25% down, but now you can get a mortgage for as little as 5% down.
Anyways, that's my exciting news, be prepared that a large portion of my blogs for the next little while will be about the house and keeping people updated on the status. And if we get together, be prepared for house talk. But, I will try to keep it at a minimum. That will be hard because I am so excited I'm almost bursting at the seams! I will try not to bore you though. I will feel much better when August 1st rolls around, because then at least it will be mine! (even if I have to wait 9 months to move in). I will be a homeowner before the age of 25, which was a goal of mine. All I can say is....thank you Jesus!
I have been thinking about getting my own place for a few months now. I went into the bank to meet with a mortgage specialist just to get a ballpark idea of how much I could afford to spend on a house. I was a little disappointed with the amount, but I guess I have to realize that I only have one income, so I can't expect to get a killer house. So, over the last few months, every saturday when the paper comes, I would take out the real estate section and read it. And I was getting a little more discouraged because it seemed like all the houses that were within my price range were either tiny little bungalos or townhomes. I really wanted something a little bigger so that I could build an apartment in a portion of it so I could rent out the apartment to make money to help pay the mortgage. And I really wasn't finding that anywhere.
Then, on Sunday, my mom said "Why don't you buy our rental property?". What an amazing idea! I would love to live there, I just never thought my parents would want to sell it!
My parents own a house just around the corner from where we are now and have rented it out for about 14 years now. My family lived in the rental house from about 1982 until 1991, so I spent a lot of my childhood there. The truth is that my parents could really use the chunk of change from the sale of the house to get out of debt. Selling the house and getting out of debt would be a real answer to prayer for them. Owning my own house is a dream come true for me. I will get to buy this gorgeous house with 4 bedrooms, it's two floors (plus basement and attic), has a huge backyard, detached garage, and it backs right onto the Rotary-Greenway trail, which is where I do a lot of running and walking Koby. And, the house has a walk-out basement, so the plan is to convert the basement into an apartment to rent out! My dad is a master carpenter, so he's going to do all the renovations for me! Yay! The house is getting a little run-down since it has been a student rental for so long, but I know how nice it can get, because it was beautiful when I lived there, it just needs a little work here and there.
Oh wait, it gets better, my parents have offered to let my buy it for $25,000 less than the appraised price!!!! Otherwise, I would never be able to afford such a large house, but they offered it to me for a good deal! My Oma gave my mom a lot of money towards her first home, so I guess my parents want to do the same with me! I'm so excited I can barely sleep at night! My mind is running wild with all the possibilities!
Okay, there is one down side. There are new tenants moving in as of May 1st (they just signed the lease a couple weeks ago). So, I can't move into the house until May 1, 2006 even though the closing date of the sale will be August 1, 2005. So, I will own the house for 9 months before I can move in. Bummer, eh? But, that just means I will get the $1200 a month from the rental income to pay the mortgage and I can save the rest for the renovations and furniture and such. Legally, I can kick the tenants out since the house will be mine and I will need it for personal use, but they are friends of my brother's and I don't want to leave them without a place to live. And an extra $1200 a month will go a long way. That should cover the mortgage payments, property taxes, home insurance, other house expenses, etc. with a few hundred left to save. I think having some time before I move in may be a good thing because then I can really plan what I want to do in terms of painting, decorating, furniture, fixing things up, etc. It will just be soooo hard to wait! I've drove by the place tonight to look at it (even though of course I know that house inside and out because I lived there for 9 years). And something inside me said "that's gonna be your new home".
Another plus side is, if (or shall I way WHEN) I get married and have a family, this house has plenty of room. 4 bedrooms on the upper floor and 1 in the basement (but that will be part of the apartment). One of the bedrooms upstairs is quite small, but the other three are a good size. I will be going down there sometime in the next few weeks (once the current tenants move out and before the new ones move in) to take some measurements, notes, and pictures.
So, in the next few weeks my job is to do some shopping around for mortgages. I want to get the best rate possible because even a percent difference in the interest rate will save you thousands. It's all about negotiations!
I really hope I will be approved for the mortgage. The only problem I see is coming up with a down payment since all my money in the last year has gone to student loans (all paid off as of yesterday - yay!) and my car (I am buying out the lease May 1st). I may have to ask Oma if she can loan me a few grand for now. Mortgages really are a lot easier now than they used to be. You used to need to have 25% down, but now you can get a mortgage for as little as 5% down.
Anyways, that's my exciting news, be prepared that a large portion of my blogs for the next little while will be about the house and keeping people updated on the status. And if we get together, be prepared for house talk. But, I will try to keep it at a minimum. That will be hard because I am so excited I'm almost bursting at the seams! I will try not to bore you though. I will feel much better when August 1st rolls around, because then at least it will be mine! (even if I have to wait 9 months to move in). I will be a homeowner before the age of 25, which was a goal of mine. All I can say is....thank you Jesus!
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Woohoo! Going to see U2!
I was able to get tickets for the U2 concert at the ACC on monday, september 12th...yay! What made me kinda annoyed tho is that they originally only had 2 shows planned: on a Monday and Wednesday. I figured the Monday would be better and then I'd just take a long weekend. But, after I bought my tickets and those two shows sold out in about 2-3 minutes, they opened up another two shows: on a friday and saturday! I would have much rather gone on a saturday than a monday! Oh well. I am just happy to be going at all because all 4 shows are sold out now. Not a single ticket left. They have quite a following I guess. I got general admission floor tickets, so I hope to be able to get pretty close! Should be a load of fun! Yay! I'm excited, now I just have to wait 6 months.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Thanks JetsGo....thanks for nothing!
I was one of the thousands who have paid for JetsGo tickets and will not be receiving the services paid for. I was planning to go to Newfoundland in May, bought my tickets during a seat sale in January, and now am left with no tickets, yet I paid for them. I MAY be able to get a refund from the credit card company that I purchased the tickets with, but when I phoned them last night, they said they cannot assist me until the date and time of my flight has passed. Herin lies the dilema. The next cheapest flight I found was with tango. The only way I could afford to still go on vacation as planned is if I get a refund for the JetsGo tickets I have already purchased, but I won't know that until May. See the problem? I don't know what to do...I guess I will just wait a little and see if any more details on refunds are made available once the dust settles. I just hate having everything up in the air (or NOT up in the air, bad joke). Grrrr.....
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Okay wait, I've changed my mind...
I am no longer a closet Kalanadian (see previous post)...I am an "I don't care who knows it, Kalan rocks" Kalanadian! The concert on friday blew me away. I mean, Kalan was good on Canadian Idol, he definately has a good voice, but I thought he was lacking a little in the stage presence and personality. Well, he must have gotten some major coaching or something, because he had amazing stage presence at the concert. I also had no idea of his musical telent because on Canadian Idol they just sing. He is sooo talented! He is an extremely gifted musician, he incorporated his violin music into most of his songs, which were rock, so it was a very unique mix. He played a few cover songs and they were better than the originals! He played alot of his own stuff too. So, if any of you have the opportunity to see him, you definately should - you will be surprised! You should come to Peterborough for the free concert here at the festi (see previous post)! I've been to quite a few concerts, and he was by far the most talented musician I have seen and he's quite a good singer too. I'm sure he'll be the next Mick Jagger, just give him time. Okay, at the risk of sounding like a star-crazed obsessive lunatic, I guess I should stop gushing. You just HAVE to see him, end of story.
I got the major report that I have been working on out today. It felt so good! 1 down, 17 more to go before March 31st...yikes! Good thing I started almost all of them back in the fall. Otherwise I would be freaking right about now!
Studying for the engineering licencing exam is going well. There's sooooo much to study! It's nuts! I'm glad I started 8 weeks before the exam. Definately not the type of exam you can cram for. So, until April 23rd, I am pretty much going to be anti-social, which really sucks ;( But, after that, I will have my weekends free and clear - that's excellent news!
I got the major report that I have been working on out today. It felt so good! 1 down, 17 more to go before March 31st...yikes! Good thing I started almost all of them back in the fall. Otherwise I would be freaking right about now!
Studying for the engineering licencing exam is going well. There's sooooo much to study! It's nuts! I'm glad I started 8 weeks before the exam. Definately not the type of exam you can cram for. So, until April 23rd, I am pretty much going to be anti-social, which really sucks ;( But, after that, I will have my weekends free and clear - that's excellent news!
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Okay, so I'm a closet Kalanadian...
For those of you who are now very confused, I am a fan of Kalan Porter (winner of Canadian Idol). I am going to see him in concert tomorrow. I will have to let you know how it is; I'm sure I'll be surrounded by screaming 14 year old girls. Sigh, I think I may be getting to old for this.
But, I'm not too old yet! I just found out that Kalan is performing at the Festival of Lights (aka "the Festi") this summer. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a free festival that runs on wednesdays and saturdays throughout the summer in Peterborough. It is outside, completely free, just bring your own lawn chair, and it's followed by an illuminated boat show and fireworks. It's actually quite cool; people flock from far and wide to Peterborough for it. They've had some big names, I saw Great Big Sea awhile ago. This year, the only bands of interest to me are: Kalan Porter, Thousand Foot Krutch (who I have loved for at least 6 or 7 years, I have all their albums and they are from around Peterborough but live in California now), Tom Cochraine, and Beatle-mania. If any of you want to come up for one of the events, you totally should! http://www.festivaloflights.ca/
But, I'm not too old yet! I just found out that Kalan is performing at the Festival of Lights (aka "the Festi") this summer. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a free festival that runs on wednesdays and saturdays throughout the summer in Peterborough. It is outside, completely free, just bring your own lawn chair, and it's followed by an illuminated boat show and fireworks. It's actually quite cool; people flock from far and wide to Peterborough for it. They've had some big names, I saw Great Big Sea awhile ago. This year, the only bands of interest to me are: Kalan Porter, Thousand Foot Krutch (who I have loved for at least 6 or 7 years, I have all their albums and they are from around Peterborough but live in California now), Tom Cochraine, and Beatle-mania. If any of you want to come up for one of the events, you totally should! http://www.festivaloflights.ca/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)